After Spending Billions To Build Afghanistan's Road Network, Much Of It Is Now Beyond Repair

In this 2013 photo, a vehicle drives along a stretch of Highway 1 damaged by a roadside bomb in Sayedabad, Afghanistan. (Kevin Sieff/The Washington Post)

Washington Post: The U.S. spent billions building roads in Afghanistan. Now many of them are beyond repair.

KABUL — Thirteen years ago, the United States called the reconstruction of the Kabul-Kandahar highway “the most visible sign” of efforts to rebuild Afghanistan. But today, that stretch of road is no longer a sign of progress.

Instead, it is now littered with craters from bombs and insurgent checkpoints and is “beyond repair,” an Afghan official said, and it is a symbol of the failed U.S. intervention here.

A report released Saturday by a U.S. government oversight body paints a grim picture of the state of Afghanistan’s roads, including the roughly 10,000 miles that were constructed, paved, repaired or funded by the United States. The new roads were hailed as key to bringing economic growth and security, even when they eventually became too dangerous for travel.

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WNU Editor: More evidence that spending billions on building infrastructure while fighting a war at the same time usually does not work.